we meet in the lifestream
by kyouko
Summary: Her touch, that was what he had missed the most. zerith oneshot / headcanon drabble.


**_we meet in the lifestream_**

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oneshot, zerith / set after aerith's death. probably doesn't follow canon much.

this is my **head**canon about the reunion between zack and aerith. it's a little fluffy and it's supposed to be sad. i've always attempted to write a piece focused on this pairing, but i could never find the inspiration i needed for it. but then i saw a very cute fan art of the pairing and inspiration just jumped out at me. so, enjoy this little zerith fic and if you'd like, leave a review. and this does go pretty fast, and it might seem a little odd, but oh well. again, enjoy.

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_And as Cloud let her lifeless body fall into the vast waters..._  
_...she had no idea she was actually falling into the arms of a man she once loved._

He was waiting for _her_ arrival to the Lifestream. He didn't want to believe it—he couldn't believe the woman he loved was gone from the Planet. But he had saw it.

He watched Cloud on his journey, serving as a guide for it. He wanted to know if Cloud and his party were safe or not. But everything had gone wrong when it came to Aerith leaving for the City of the Ancients.

She was down on her knees, trying to summon Holy, the one who would remove any kind of trouble from the world. But before she could finish up the ritual, Sephiroth came into the picture and pierced his sword into her back, making an immediate death for her. Zack did not want to even think that Aerith could've been dead, but there she was... She was sitting down, her body lifeless, and her friends began to mourn her death. It was all real, but it didn't seem like it. But when it comes down to the Planet, Gaia, nothing is what it seems. Some things can be real; some things may not be.

Then he remembered the girl in the blue sundress that had made him change his ways. He remembered buying a pink ribbon for her, and he remembered seeing it fall out of her hair when Cloud had "buried" her in the City of the Ancients's small lake. A small chuckle escaped his lips when he remembered that she had said yes to going on a date with him, even if it was only at the playground in Sector 5's slums.

He felt someone near him then, and immediately knew who it was. "Aerith," he murmured.

She strolled over to him slowly, surprised to see him, but there was a little thing that caught her off guard. "Is that you, Zack?" she asked. "Your hair... It's gotten so much longer since I've last seen you... five years ago..." A sigh was heard from her after _five years_. "Has it really been that long?"

"Well, I don't really know, Aerith. I mean, I've been in here for just a while, so I have no idea how everything goes. I don't even know if time exists here." Zack let out a deep breath. "I've been gone for a long time, I know, but it's been longer for me than it has for you."

"What do you even mean?! How did you end up here?!" Aerith snapped, her face turning red from what seemed to be anger. "What happened to you... Zack?"

"The story Cloud told you was wrong... He had no idea what really happened, but he was stuck with my memories. But I'll tell you everything up front." Zack settled down onto the ground, reaching a hand out to her to help pull her down.

"Tell me... _your_ story..." Aerith said. "I want to hear it _all_..."

"When I was dispatched to Nibelheim with Cloud and Sephiroth, Sephiroth... He kind of set fire to Nibelheim, causing the whole village to be destroyed. He was in the Mako Reactor... I tried to fight him, I really did, but... I was too slow. I got sent flying back into the Mako Reactor's entryway. Cloud showed up... He saved your friend, Tifa. She could've been very hurt that way, you know? You would've never gotten a chance to meet her if Cloud hadn't showed up."

Aerith gasped. The whole jealousy thing that Tifa had shown previously finally made sense. "I..."

Zack continued on, leaving a frown upon Aerith's face. "Cloud... Cloud somehow beat him. You know, Sephiroth. But Cloud came back to where Tifa and I were lying. And Hojo—or, more formally, Professor Hojo—came and picked us up, sent us to his lab, and experimented on us for five years. I woke up in the glass we were captivated in, but Cloud was still unconscious." Zack looked up, not finding the sky he wanted to look for. "I got him out of that place... Hojo's laboratory. Then, I soon was attacked by so many soldiers for Shinra... I couldn't fight them all, Aerith," Zack finished.

When he looked back down and at her, he could see her tears suddenly flowing down her face. "Aerith... I..."

"I'm guessing you never got any of my letters, huh?" she inquired, wiping her eyes with the side of her hand. "None of them, not even my eighty-ninth..."

Zack's eyes soon widened, and he remembered the last letter he got from her. "I got your last one, Aerith... I was coming back to Midgar for you, but then... well," he said, "tragedy overcame me."

When Zack leaned over to move a wisp of hair behind her ear, she reached out to envelope him in her arms. "Five years..." she mused. "I've missed being able to hug you like this. Even being gone from the Planet, we can still touch..."

He decided to pull her in more, letting his head bury itself into her neck, his hands gently pressing her into his body.

_Her touch_, that was what he had missed the most.

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**disclaimer**

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i do not own the game or any of the characters mentioned.

they belong to square/enix.


End file.
